Livelihoods of Forest-dependent People in Kaptai National Park (original) (raw)
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Considering participatory management approach, one of the pragmatic steps was taken by the Bangladesh Forest Department (FD) to involve the Khasia people for the Lawachara National Park (LNP) management where they have been living for long. The forest dwelling Khasia are one of the major indigenous communities living in the northeastern hill forests. In order to investigate their level of dependency on the Protected Area for livelihoods, their forest based traditional hill farming practices and attitude towards the LNP, an exploratory survey was undertaken among the Khasia community living in the LNP. The study explores that the economy of the Khasia is extensively forest-centric. Betel leaf and betel nut based hill farming practice is their principal occupation and source of livelihood irrespective of their financial status. Moreover, nearly 15 percent of the incomes of the poorer farmers derived from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) followed by 9 percent and 6 percent for medium and rich farmers respectively. Therefore, the LNP has been deemed to be the part and parcel of their lives and livelihoods.
Small-scale Forestry, 2013
Even though many forest villagers have been living on forest department land and serving the department in the northeastern hill forests region of Bangladesh since the early 1950s, their livelihood has not yet been fully explored. This paper examines the livelihoods of forest villagers (Khasia ethnic people) and their contribution to forest conservation, using data from the Sylhet forest division. The forest villagers are well-endowed with all the elements of a sustainable livelihoods framework, though human capital in terms of education is not satisfactory. Strong social capital, stable natural capital and a productive market-oriented agroforestry system facilitate the generation of financial and physical capital that make the livelihoods of Khasia people sustainable. At the same time, their reciprocal contributions in terms of forest protection and plantation development support forest conservation. However, some institutional issues such as insecure land tenure with regular agreement renewal problems need to be resolved for the sake of their livelihoods and forest conservation. Lessons learned from the study can be utilized in formulating future participatory forest management schemes in the country.
Regional Sustainability, 2021
Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play a significant role in the improvement of the forestdependent people's livelihoods around the world, strengthening protection for the sustainable use of forests. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the influence of occupational category-wise (fuelwood collectors, farmers, small-scale businessmen, day labourers, and tea estate labourers) dependency on NTFPs and the role of NTFPs on household income around the Khadimnagar National Park (KNP) in northeastern Bangladesh. In 2014, 178 purposively selected respondents from four villages (out of 22 villages around the KNP) were interviewed face-to-face using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study observed that these forest-dependent communities utilized resources of the KNP mainly for domestic energy supply, household income, and house construction. Results showed that income from NTFPs made a significant contribution to family income. Income data analysis indicated that small-scale businessmen earned relatively more income from NTFPs, followed by tea estate labourers and day labourers. The study revealed significant negative relationships of the distance of households from the forest with the amount of NTFPs collected (P < 0.01) and monthly income from NTFPs (P < 0.01). Positive significant relationships were found between the amount of NTFPs collected and the time spent in NTFP collection (P < 0.001), as well as between monthly income from NTFPs and family size (P < 0.001). The fuelwood collectors and farmers collected significantly greater amounts of NTFPs per trip (P < 0.001) than other occupational categories. The households that were moderately to highly dependent on NTFPs collected significantly higher amounts of NTFPs per trip (P < 0.01) than the households that were moderately dependent and less dependent on NTFPs. Community dependence on KNP's resources, community's appreciation of the KNP's ecosystem services for villagers' livelihoods, and community's high levels of concern for forest conservation provided a foundation for the sustainable management of the KNP. The study findings will be useful for designing an effective forest management plan and policy for NTFP management and forest conservation with the active involvement of the forest-dependent people in northeastern Bangladesh.
Environmental Development, 2019
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Forests, Trees and …, 2012
Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is a rather recent and widely promoted, and hence, accepted paradigm for managing protected areas in most developing countries. Protected area managers in Bangladesh face challenges because of the complex sociocultural and political dynamics that result from the high population densities and extreme poverty of people living in or near lands designated for conservation. In recent years the government of Bangladesh, with active support from international aid and conservation agencies, has tried to develop a holistic approach to protected area management involving forest communities and user groups. This study seeks to explore the initial response to such intervention in a newly declared protected area in order to gain insights about wider implications in other parts of the country. The study was conducted between January 2006 and January 2007 in four villages located in or near Satchari National Park. Results suggest considerable change took place in household forest resource collection patterns, and people's dependency on non-forest income increased significantly during the project implementation period. The study also indicated that although changes occurred slowly, they brought improvements to the livelihoods of those relying on local forests.
Journal of Forest Research, 2011
Natural forests offer numerous benefits to indigenous communities and society at large. Incomes from forest sources play an important role in rural households. In addition to this, environmental sources in the forests contribute significantly to rural households’ livelihoods and economic well-being. This paper examines the contributions of forests to the livelihoods of the Chakma tribe in Bangladesh. Using the data from 60 randomly sampled households from three villages, it measured forest-resource use with a monetary yardstick. As revealed through analyses, natural forest-sourced income occupies the second-largest share in total average household income next to shifting cultivation income in the study area. Forest products represent an important component in the local livelihoods, with a direct forest income of 11,256 tk year−1 household−1 (tk = taka, the national currency of Bangladesh; US$1 = tk70), or 11% of the total income, in addition to the households receiving monetary benefits of 18,951 tk year−1 household−1, or 21% of the total income, through the consumption of forest products. The remaining income came from shifting cultivation practice. It was also observed that larger families with more people gathering forest products realized more forest income. This study will be relevant to forest and environmental policy-makers as well as indigenous community development practitioners.
2013
Globally, forest degradation is a severe problem. In Bangladesh, forests have been degraded due to over-exploitation, changes in land use, encroachment, fire, uncontrolled and wasteful commercial logging, illegal felling, grazing, and the collection of fuelwood for a large population. People who live near forests are usually involved in agriculture, and they regularly rely on forest products (timber, fuelwood, bush foods, medicinal plants, etc.) for both their own subsistence purposes and for income generation. Recognizing this problem, in 2008 the Forest Department (FD) of the Government of Bangladesh and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) started the Integrated Protected Area Comanagement (IPAC) project in 17 protected areas (PAs) and one eco-park in Bangladesh with the aim of improving local people’s livelihoods through greater access to and control over local forest resources. Since 2009, IPAC has promoted alternative income-generating activities (AIG...
Asian Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry, 2019
Forest is one of the main sources of different resources where indigenous communities are mostly dependent on the forest for their sustainable management of life. Following the dependency of indigenous communities on natural resources and their conservation practices and development of Village Common Forest (VCF) in Chittagong hill tracts. Present study was conducted at Haduk Para and Hridoy Member Para VCF’s in Khagrachari, Bangladesh to understand the dependency and practices of villagers on the VCF for their livelihood and other resources. Among different types of products extracted from Haduk Para and Hridoy Member Para, the monetary value was highest (14700 BDT and 22400 BDT, respectively) for timber but fuelwood is the most extracted product (1930 Kg HH-1Yr-1 and 2470 Kg HH-1Yr-1, respectively) they have collected from VCF. Besides, to fulfill daily personal needs different plant edible products, fauna, and medicinal plants have been collected by the community people from both...